Startup

The Inevitable AI Bubble AI will create one of the largest technologically driven bubbles of all time, and we’re only in the early innings. Breakthrough technologies always invite bubbles. Alistair Nairn describes the similar pattern of new technologies in Engines…

Takeaways: Tesla announces that FSD subscriptions will increase to $12,000 starting Jan. 17th, the company’s intentions for doing so and whether or not FSD will be mandated in the future. Theranos: their ethos, our verdict, and the gray area between…

The following memo was shared amongst our investment research team. Quibi’s shutdown offers a few valuable lessons for investors.  A great founding team does not eliminate the need for a unique insight about the problem and market. We previously talked…

There’s easy D2C telemedicine and there’s hard D2C telemedicine. The first D2C telemedicine boom, v1, logically focused on the easy categories: hair loss, birth control, erectile dysfunction, skin care. All of these categories require minimal doctor expertise or interaction with…

Earlier this week, Social Capital published its Annual Letter. In the letter, Chamath Palihapitiya, founder of Social Capital, details his viewpoint on why Big Tech should be broken up and how. I enjoy reading Palihapitiya’s letter every year, but I take…

The latest coronavirus, now known as COVID-19, has had a notable impact on upcoming tech conferences around the world. Many of these conferences have been canceled while major tech companies are avoiding others due to concerns about COVID-19. Facebook canceled…

The future of work is freedom. Freedom for workers to find meaningful work, to collaborate with great teams, and to work where and when they want. That’s why we’re excited to invest in Wethos. Wethos deploys responsive teams of creative…

To unbundle is to “market or charge for items or services separately rather than as part of a package.” It’s no secret that startups are unbundling everything. Fintech companies unbundle traditional bank services. Proptech unbundles real estate. Travel tech unbundles…

Many great venture investment opportunities emerge from the deconstruction of some accepted norm or behavior. One of the most famous deconstructions was that of Craigslist where verticalized marketplaces like Airbnb, Let Go, Stubhub, Indeed, etc., emerged to do one of the…

Problems are the guiding light for founders to build solutions around. Problems are also the guiding light for investors to decide whether a company is a good investment. When we started investing in early-stage companies, we were taught that founders,…

Pinterest’s Q1 report was a reminder of the first rule of going public: You have to beat buy-side expectations in your first reported quarter as a public company. Pinterest failed to do that. To be clear, companies should never manage…

Zoom is off to a fast start trading as a public company, up 83% since its IPO two weeks ago. One reason is the company’s efficiency in gaining new customers. Slack, which will start trading in the next few weeks,…